Camp So-and-So

Description

The letters went out in mid-February. Each letter invited its recipient to spend a week at Camp So-and-So, a lakeside retreat for girls nestled high in the Starveling Mountains. Each letter came with a glossy brochure with photographs of young women climbing rocks, performing Shakespearean theatre under the stars, and spiking volleyballs. Each letter was signed in ink by the famed and reclusive businessman and philanthropist, Inge F. Yancey IV. By the end of the month, twenty-five applications had been completed, signed, and mailed to a post office box in an obscure Appalachian town. Had any of these girls tried to follow the directions in the brochure and visit the camp for themselves on that day in February, they would have discovered that there was no such town and no such mountain and that no one within a fifty-mile radius had ever heard of Camp So-and-So. The DNA of this singular book winds strands of M. C. Escher, Joss Whedon, and Heathers--Mary McCoy has created something wonderful, wild, and weird. Don't miss it.--Martha Brockenbrough, author of The Game of Love and Death

Mary McCoy lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. She works as a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She is the author of Printz Honor Book I, Claudia.

All the world's a stage in this clever compendium of horror and fantasy tropes, set at an Appalachian summer camp for girls. Camp So-and-So boasts all of the typical summer camp amenities, but when 25 girls (diverse in background, race, and sexual orientation) arrive for a week, it quickly becomes clear that all is not as advertised. The girls, divided into five cabins, find themselves in bizarre, maybe dangerous, situations. Cabin 1 must compete against the unsettling members of a fancy rival camp in a series of seemingly unwinnable tasks, and they're starting to worry about what will happen if they lose. Cabin 2 gets the Friday the 13th treatment when they realize they're being hunted by a former camper, while Cabin 3's adventures take a more fantastical turn as they set off on a quest to break a curse. Romance--and something more insidious--is in the air for Cabin 4 when they find their soulmates in the woods. For Cabin 5, though, survival is the only goal. As each group struggles with their circumstances, it becomes clear that someone is pulling the strings. Tongue-in-cheek quips from an (at first) unknown third-party narrator and nods to A Midsummer Night's Dream tie everything together in this crafty, and, yes, campy novel that plays with familiar themes before it subverts them. Pure weird entertainment from start to finish.--starred, Booklist -- "Journal" (2/1/2017 12:00:00 AM) Camp is supposed to be about arts and crafts, capture the flag, and lazy days swimming in the lake, but at Camp So-and-So, nothing is as it's supposed to be, or even as it seems. Several mysteries await the 25 female campers whose parents make the drive up the 'unnecessarily winding road' to the five cabins that don't even have walls. They've been tempted with shiny brochures that offer a week of fun and friends, but when they arrive, they're greeted by a problem, the nature of which depends on which cabin they've been assigned to. The mystery about Camp So-and-So deepens the longer the girls are trapped, and trapped they are, a fact that dawns on them as they find little help in the form of adult supervision. McCoy has written a downright peculiar book that manages to deliver a compelling tale of friendship and survival. The characters--which include at least two young black women and two lesbians--are easy to distinguish and follow, even as the narrative is required to dive into different scenes. A self-consciously omniscient narrator is a helpful technique that folds well into the plot. A loose relationship with A Midsummer Night's Dream helps explain the hazier bits, though knowledge of Shakespeare isn't required to enjoy the book. Weird, fun, clever, and different--in a good way.--Kirkus Reviews -- "Journal" (1/1/2017 12:00:00 AM) Camp So-and-So is a surprise to the twenty-five campers who arrive there expecting the usual outdoor summer camp (to which they've all been granted scholarships). The girls are divided into five cabins, and each cabin has a mystery to solve (involving supernatural elements, weird background stories, and a requirement to work together effectively or face mortal peril). There are very few grownups around and even more oddness than it initially appears, so it's lucky that the girls have deep reserves of pluck and smarts to draw from that will keep them out of the hands of the soul-sucking beings for whom they are entertainment. Add in some clear references to A Midsummer Night's Dream and a subplot about a missing author (whom readers will likely peg as the omniscient narrator fairly quickly once all the pieces come together), and page time for all twenty-five girls, and it's a complex, occasionally confusing plot. Happily, McCoy pulls it all off with aplomb, and the resulting novel is enthralling, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful, since the girls are better people for having met one another. A series of mysteries, a diverse and ambitious large cast, satisfying villains, and memorable notes on friendship--there's a lot to like here.--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books -- "Journal" (4/1/2017 12:00:00 AM) If a friend went away to summer camp and came back a different person, it might be easy to assume it was because she had made new friends and had had new experiences. But what if there were more sinister reasons? The 25 campers who arrive at Camp So-and-So expect hiking, rowing, and other normal camp activities, but they soon become involved in increasingly weird and potentially dangerous circumstances, and there are no responsible adult figures to be found. The girls, divided into five cabins, must fend for themselves and navigate through a tangled thicket of clues and deadly traps. There is a psychotic murderer to be eluded, a heroic quest to be pursued, the intoxicating promise of true love, and dark forces at work that can split souls. The strong protagonists and supporting characters grow gradually more courageous as they confront every challenge, supernatural and otherwise. The cleverly built structure divides the narrative into acts, and scenes within the acts tell the tale of each cabin separately, until they all converge in one dramatic conclusion. VERDICT: A wildly imaginative novel with plenty of twists, this is a good pick for teens who like stories filled with bravery and dark magic.--School Library Journal -- "Journal" (1/1/2017 12:00:00 AM) The DNA of this singular book winds strands of M. C. Escher, Joss Whedon, and Heathers--Mary McCoy has created something wonderful, wild, and weird. Don't miss it.--Martha Brokenbrough, author of The Game of Love and Death -- "Other Print" (10/20/2016 12:00:00 AM) 4Q 4P J S Twenty-five female campers and their parents make the drive up the 'unnecessarily winding road' to the five cabins waiting for them. They have been tempted by glitzy brochures that offer a week of teen camping fun. All is not as it seems, however; there is a dearth of adult supervision and depending on the cabin the camper is assigned, the mystery and danger facing them is different. Cabin 1 competes against the privileged campers across the lake, who are not what they seem. Cabin 2 is being stalked by a malevolent spirit of a former camper. Cabin 3 undertakes a quest to break an age-old curse. Cabin 4 meets their soulmates who pose an unexpected threat, and cabin 5 gets entangled . . . well, just gets entangled. On the surface, the problems are humdrum, summer camp mystery stuff, but reading further exposes some horror, some mystery, some supernatural, and lots of evil. This is a peculiar book. It is laid out as a play with a narrator that pops in and out throughout the story offering editorial commentary as well as context for what is occurring. There is even an intermission of sorts. The intertwined mysteries are reminiscent of Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game (Dutton, 1978). The unique structure requires concentration and close reading to keep all the characters and plots straight. For all that, the reader is drawn into this weird environment and cannot wait to find out what happens to the campers in each cabin. Put this on the shelf in the YA collection. It will be read.--VOYA -- "Journal" (4/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)